Montreal won this playoff game for its absent coach.
Kirk Muller and the rest of the Canadiens just had to dedicate the Game 2 victory to Claude Julien.
“To Claude, I’m sure you’re listening, this win’s for you,” Muller said.
Tomas Tatar and Jesperi Kotkaniemi each scored twice, Carey Price stopped 30 shots and the Canadiens rebounded without Julien to rout the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Friday in Toronto and tie their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series at a game apiece.
“We have a job and he would expect that as well,” forward Max Domi said. “So we were just trying to stay focused here and get ready to go. And I think we did a great job of that.”
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Julien was home in Montreal a day after a stent was placed in a coronary artery. The team said doctors expect a full recovery.
Julien was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto overnight Wednesday with chest pain. He had surgery Thursday. Because Julien left the NHL bubble in Toronto, he will have to follow quarantine protocol if he wishes to re-enter it. Muller will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the series.
“Claude steers the ship for us and he guides what we do out there,” defenseman Ben Chiarot said. “We’ll just play as hard as we can for him.”
Game 3 is Sunday night.
The Canadiens roughed up Flyers goalie Carter Hart, who turned 22 on Thursday, and scored four goals through two periods to send him to the bench.
The Canadiens continued their sensational surge through Toronto hockey and bounced back fine after a 2-1 Game 1 loss. Montreal was the last team in the East to qualify for the expanded playoffs, and then needed four games to win its best-of-five series over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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Hart grew up in Alberta and was a long-time fan of Price, who dazzled in the NHL restart. Price had a shutout against the Penguins and had an elite series that keyed the series win. Hart was just 6 years old when the Canadiens made Price a first-round pick in the 2005 draft. He was 22 for just a day when he got benched against idol.
“At this time of the year, with the importance of the game, we certainly don’t expect that,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said.
Tatar needed only 1:02 into the game to score, and Kotkaniemi connected later in the period. Tatar scored again just 1:30 into the second period. Joel Armia knocked out Hart with the Canadiens’ fourth goal.
"I think we really played the right way from the get-go. We jumped on them right out of the gate," Tatar said.
Hart allowed four goals on 26 shots. He allowed just two goals on 59 shots in the round-robin series that helped the Flyers go 3-0 and clinch the top seed in the East. His .914 save percentage was tied for eighth in the regular season.
The Flyers continue to get little production from their top stars. Travis Konency, Kevin Hayes, Sean Couturier, Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk — their top-five goal scorers — have yet to score in the Toronto bubble.
Kotkaniemi beat backup Brian Elliott in the third for a 5-0 lead.
“You can’t win the series by winning one game,” Hayes said. “They handed it to us pretty badly tonight.”
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Avalanche 3, Coyotes 2 — Andre Burakovsky scored late in the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 shots and Colorado beat Arizona in Edmonton to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinals series.
The Coyotes were far more aggressive after being tentative against Colorado's offensive firepower to in the opener.
The Avalanche still found ways to score early in the opening two periods on goals by Nathan MacKinnon and Tyson Jost.
Arizona responded each time, tying it on a goal by Clayton Keller in the first and Michael Grabner in the second.
Burakovsky scored with 2:53 left in regulation when a shot by Nazem Kadri hit Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun’s shin pad and left goalie Darcy Kuemper out of position.
Game 3 in the best-of-seven series is Saturday in the Edmonton bubble.
Kuemper stopped 25 shots.
Colorado won the opener with three late goals in 1:23 after being stymied by Kuemper for more than 2 1/2 periods.
The Coyotes spent most of the game on their heels, managing just 14 shots.
Arizona buzzed early in Game 2 with some big hits and some good scoring chances.
One mistake gave Colorado the lead.
Taking advantage of a neutral zone turnover, MacKinnon had a clear run up the left side of the ice and beat Kuemper with a wrister to the glove side.
The Coyotes stuck to their attacking game plan after the goal and tied it when a shot by Keller caromed off Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard's stick past Grubauer.
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The Avalanche scored another early goal in the second period, when Jost tipped a shot by Cale Makar that was going well wide past Kuemper.
The Coyotes responded again, tying it less than two minutes later when Colorado failed to pick up Grabner, who skated freely into the crease and beat Grubauer to the glove side.
Arizona had some good chances in the third period, including a shot that clanged off the post, but the Avs scored the last goal to take a commanding lead in the series.
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August 15, 2020 at 05:21AM
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Playing without Claude Julien behind bench, Canadiens blank Flyers to even series - The Boston Globe
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